The present invention relates to a surgical device for use in a surgical procedure and is particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with a surgical device for use in a surgical procedure for implanting a prosthesis structure into a bone tissue structure, for example implanting a dental prosthesis structure into a jaw bone of a human or animal patient.
Dental prosthesis structures typically comprise an anchoring component or fixture which is anchored in the bone tissue of the jaw bone, a spacer component or abutment which is attached to the anchoring component to bridge the soft tissue layer overlying the jaw bone and a restoration component such as a bridge or crown supported on the spacer component.
A variety of different surgical instruments are needed by the dental surgeon for implanting the prosthesis structure, for example drills, bone taps, probes, wrenches, depth gauges etc. It would obviously be convenient for the surgeon to have some of these instruments connected together rather than separate, particularly in the case of related instruments or instruments which will be needed in adjacent steps of the surgical procedure.
In Applicant""s prior International patent application publication No. WO94/09719 there is made known integrating two different dental implant surgical instruments into a single dental implant surgical device. These two instruments, however, are rigidly connected together so that the dental surgeon needs to maneuver the device around to be able to use the different instruments. It would be further advantageous for the dental surgeon to be able to have such a device in which the instruments are able to be moved relative to one another.
According to the present invention there is provided a surgical device for use in a surgical procedure comprising a plurality of surgical instruments for performing predetermined steps of the surgical procedure with at least one of the surgical instruments being movable relative to the other surgical instruments of the device.
In an embodiment of the invention all of the surgical instruments are movable relative to each other.
In an embodiment of the invention such as the one hereinafter to be described the surgical device comprises more than two surgical instruments with each surgical instrument being independently movable. This may be accomplished as in the embodiment of the invention hereinafter to be described by having each surgical instrument pivotally mounted to the device. For a more compact device the surgical instruments may be pivotally mounted to the device at a common pivot point.
In an embodiment of the invention the surgical procedure comprises a sequence of different predetermined surgical steps and each surgical instrument is for performing a different predetermined surgical step of the surgical procedure.
In an embodiment of the invention the surgical procedure is for implanting a prosthesis structure into a bone tissue structure of a human or animal patient, for instance an orthopaedic prosthesis structure or, as in the embodiment of the invention hereinafter to be described, a dental prosthesis structure.
In an embodiment of the invention the prosthesis structure is a dental prosthesis structure which comprises an anchoring component for anchorage in a bore provided in the bone tissue of a jaw bone, the anchoring component being selected from a set of standard anchoring components of different lengths, and one of the surgical instruments is a depth gauge adapted to be positioned in the bore to enable a standard anchoring component of correct length to be selected from the set for anchorage in the bore.
In an embodiment of the invention such as the one hereinafter to be described the prosthesis structure is a dental prosthesis structure which comprises an anchoring component for anchorage in a bore provided in the bone tissue of a jaw bone and a spacer component for attachment to the anchoring component when anchored in the bore in the jaw bone to bridge the soft tissue layer overlying the anchoring component, the spacer component being selected from a set of standard spacer components of different lengths, and one of the surgical instruments is a depth gauge adapted to engage with the proximal end of the anchoring component when anchored in the bore through the soft tissue layer to enable a standard spacer component of correct length to be selected from the set for attachment to the anchoring component. One of the other surgical instruments could, of course, be a depth gauge for enabling selection of the anchoring component as described in the preceding paragraph.
In an embodiment of the invention the surgical device comprises a handle and the surgical instruments are coupled to the handle.
The present invention further provides a kit of surgical instruments for carrying out a surgical procedure, a plurality of the surgical instruments in the kit forming an integrated surgical device with at least one of the surgical instruments of the surgical device being movable relative to the other surgical instruments of the surgical device.